Next Step Umbrella Competencies

The Next Step Program competencies represent strategic soft skills required of America's workforce to be successful on the job. The degree program and its competencies were developed by the participating colleges, in partnership with Verizon and its Technical Unions, CWA and IBEW.

Year by year Objectives to improve progressive difficulty of competencies over time of program
See Bicycle Analogy

Competency	Definition	Student Skills Standards for observation and debriefing
Team Work	Working as a team to achieve mutual goals, building meaningful and productive professional relationships regardless of personal differences or resource challenges. HENRY FORD said this about an effective team "Coming together is a beginning; Keeping together is Progress: Working together is Success. " GROUP WORK Informal activity by groups and individuals; Just "do it" (local-in-class teams) No analysis of progress; both positive and negative results repeat over time. Informal leaders always lead; non-contributors continue Activities and needs structured by Faculty; roles and assignments informally defined by students; no descriptive vocabulary TEAMWORK More formal and defined activity, Faculty rotates membership by one student each month or activities are structured by student teams and their changing needs.   Negative results decline and positive results increase for optimum performance. Temporary & adaptive teams are established as needed, with strong student input (team membership networks to regional, state-wide, national, international in virtual environment depending on need) Team-based vocabulary © Students analyze their own results for improvement and replication of process. (A few sentences of analysis at the end of each written project or lab, answering a specific question) Specialized vocabulary is adopted and used as a tool for analysis and improvement, for critical thinking or replication on the job Why Debrief? How to Debrief? Explore this helpful website	Student Skills Related to Building Teams TRUST IS THE FOUNDATION Each member is willing to work toward a shared vision or goal in a context of individual and shared accountability for defined outcomes Influence and leadership rotate depending on the task Each member listens and respects others Differences of opinion are encouraged and freely expressed Conflict is viewed as healthy; is surfaced and managed Team Focus is on solving problems, rather than on interpersonal competition or assignment of blame Relationship and task roles are balanced Risk taking is encouraged, mistakes are learning opportunities, blame is not productive Team is responsive to internal and external change Team performance is periodically assessed through member feedback to one another in the context of individual and mutual accountability Members Complement each other's strengths and compensate for limitations Members grow personally and professionally from their association with the team Results are greater than those that could be accomplished individually Team members hold a common understanding of the problem to be solved or of team objectives. Although obvious, this part of the process may require considerable time, study, and discussion depending upon the complexity of the issue facing the team and the diversity of backgrounds and expertise of the team members. All members are brought up to speed. Free and open discussion of ideas is encouraged, so that team members learn from one another and come to understand different approaches and methods. Risk taking is encouraged. High-risk, high-payoff approaches are welcome for consideration. Some ideas will be modified or discarded but the debate is about ideas, not individuals. Establishing trust is important in highly effective teams and respect for others' ideas is central to building that trust. The team respects facts, data, and objective analysis. No one is protected from critical evaluation of their ideas because of their position in the organization or because of their expertise. There is no fear of reprisal or looking good at others' expense. The focus is on problem solving as opposed to positional bargaining. This is important in building trust among team members. That conflict will arise is not only OK, it is necessary. The conflict, however, is about ideas not individuals; about team performance not about individuals winning or losing. Learning to separate self from ideas is an important step. The team is accountable for final recommendations and results. Individual team members have assigned and agreed upon responsibilities and are accountable for them. The team determines methods of operation, timelines, resource needs, intermediate objectives, milestones, and periodically evaluates progress. The team redefines its approach and objectives as necessary. Early mistakes in the process are favorable to later. Team decisions are critical; as opposed to decisions made by the team leader or individual team members and substituted for the team.
Quality	Doing the job right the first time, and doing it in a way that meets or exceeds customer's requirements	Student Skills Related to Quality of Work Correctly determines what needs to be accomplished Does it right the first time Exceeds expectations; goes the extra step Performs with excellence under pressures of time and multiple tasking Self-assesses standards of performance and quality of results Understands resource relationships of time and materials to problem resolution Has working knowledge of safety standards and/or federal hazardous materials requirements Assesses problem, reinvents approaches, and assembles temporary teams when necessary for resolution; knows a single individual can't know all the answers, networks with people and information sources Documents results for future, thereby shortening re-entry time for troubleshooting systems
Customer Focus 5 Points of Customer Contact and steps to excellence in customer service for Verizon Technicians Call Ahead, show up on time Go to the Customer ‘s Door before Starting the Job Keep the Customer Informed, answer questions, explain the repair procedures, explain how long it will take do not delay or extend inconvenience; do extra to  fix it on the first visit Close Out with the Customer; notify when finished and Call the Customer Back to assure satisfaction and completeness Let's remember we are all customers and we all deliver some product so theses principles pretty much represent what we expect of those from whom we purchase products and from ourselves when we deliver products. Further, as with teamwork, these elements are present in our classrooms already. Has anyone ever heard an English faculty member say, "know your audience" as prelude to writing a paper? Could the audience be a customer? The only thing new is that we ask you to make it all explicit. That is, we want to make sure that our students understand the elements of the process they have gone through to satisfy the faculty member's requirements. And that these elements are the same as those used by them when they satisfy customers outside of the classroom. If we can accomplish that, then our graduates will know exactly how and why to implement the Verizon Points of Contact and Steps to Outstanding Customer Service when they see them.	Satisfying the needs of customers to a quality standard that builds trust and confidence for long term relationships through exceptional communication and technical skills How can we deal with these concepts in the classroom First, it isn't necessary to drill the 5 contact points for customer service into our student’s heads. After all, we don't attempt to teach specific repair or installation procedures. Rather we deal with understanding of principles and their application, technical or otherwise. That’s not to say that specific Verizon approaches may not be used in the classroom. That’s up to the instructor, the students, the nature of the topic or project being covered and the approach to it. But whether or not Verizon specific information is covered, there can be no doubt that students should walk away from the program with some understanding of elements essential to good customer service, or as we say, customer focus. Who is the customer? In the classroom the faculty member may be thought of as the customer for all kinds of projects, lab reports, research reports and the like. For lab work, Dominic Ciardullo of NCC has gone a step further and identified the instructor, the students themselves, or the whole class as the customer depending upon the nature of the work and the audience to whom the results are presented. Fred Schoenfeld, also of NCC, has developed projects that involve two separate cohorts of students where the newer cohort is the customer of the more advanced group. Other approaches are in use and still others will be identified as we go along.  What does the customer (faculty member) want? Sometimes it’s pretty obvious, sometimes not. In the early stages of the program many assignments can be clearly understood from the initial instructions. Later, more complex assignments should require interaction between students and instructor to more clearly identify instructor (customer) requirements. Joe Stadtmiller, of MVCC, assigns communications projects that require this kind of interaction after the initial assignment is given. How do we satisfy the customer? As projects become more complex during the program we can ask student teams for timelines or milestones planned on the road to completion of the project. This will provide opportunity for communication between provider (students) and customer (faculty member) at various stages of the project, for follow-through on commitments, and for delivery of a satisfactory product (research report). As we have seen above, all are elements of good customer service. How do we know if the customer is satisfied? Grades for labs and projects. Grades should reflect how satisfied the faculty member is with the final product and how it was delivered, including criteria for making the judgment.	Student Customer Focus Skills Demonstrates interpersonal skills & etiquette for building long-term human relationships Hones verbal skills to describe problems and solutions thereby instilling confidence and trust; Can sell ideas & convince, can educate and mentor team members Appreciates diversity in teams and the richness brought to creative problem resolution Holds positive personal values; Fair, honest, loyal, confidential, dependable, leads by example, values others' input, listens actively, Matches project needs with appropriate resources; Has up-to-date knowledge of available intra- and extra-classroom resources Has up-to-date knowledge of laboratory procedures and project requirements for increased efficiency in moving through protocols while solving problems Resolves conflicts of interest between teacher expectations, team member expectations, and project requirements Applies all other Course Competency understandings Uses alternate resources during technical down-time Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability to meet project needs Includes team approach to problem solving The ISO 9000 Standards that deal with Total Quality Management have been revised to ISO 9000 2000. Increased emphasis on customer focus stands as one of the major aspects of the revision. The first of the guiding Quality Management Principles is: "Focus on your customer - Organizations rely on customers. Therefore, - Organizations must understand customer needs Organizations must meet customer requirements Organizations must exceed customer expectations" While the standards apply to organizations large and small, and extensive guidelines exist to help organizations comply with the standards, the ideas presented can prove useful in day to day interactions with customers. Who are our customers? Although there are several categories of customers, organizational goals related to customer satisfaction relate to the customer who is the end user of our product. The purpose of satisfying other internal and external customers must, in the final analysis, contribute to satisfying the end user that we are in business to serve. What do customers want? They want to hear "yes" not reasons why you "can't". They want to solve their problems, not yours. They don't really want to hear about internal machinations that make your job difficult. They want ease of use. Not just of the equipment or communications systems but also of the way they access installation and repair. They want timeliness. Be there to start when you say, repair or install in the time frame you promise, finish when you said you would. They want certainty. Consistency, reliability, accuracy. In the people they deal with as well as in the equipment and systems they purchase. They want follow through on commitments. How do we satisfy customers? We listen to them, talk to them to be sure we understand their needs or the nature of their problem. We communicate with them about what needs to be done, how long it will take, and when it will be finished. We meet our time commitments We do the job. We inform the customer when the job is completed and/or as it progresses so the customer knows what is going on. We check back to make sure customer expectations are met.
Problem Solving	Obtaining and evaluating information to develop and implement cost competitive solutions to customer problems in a timely fashion.	*Adapted from Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy| Student Thinking Skills Forms of knowledge - knowing, low to high Knowledge of terminology Specific facts Ways & means of dealing with specifics Knowledge of conventions Trends & sequences Classifications & categories Criteria Methodologies Universals & abstractions in a field Principles & generalizations/exceptions Theories & structures Comprehension - low to high Translation Interpretation Extrapolation Application Analysis -low to high Of elements Of relationships Of systematic principles Synthesis - low to high Production of unique communication Production of plan or proposed set of operations Derivation of a set of abstract relations Evaluation - low to high Judgments in terms of internal evidence Judgments in terms of external criteria
Project Leadership	The process through which individuals exhibit leadership among their co-workers...both in their own work groups and beyond... to ensure customer service projects are completed which exceed customer expectations.	Student Project Leadership and resource development Skills Takes initiative and accepts responsibility to conclusion of problem resolution; Has "can-do" attitude; assumes personal responsibility; self-management Has positive self concept; Self Confident Knows that no single individual can possess the answers to complex problems; works with others Uses information gathering & analyzing, networking & team building with computer skills to expedite the process Remains in continuous learning mode; Treats problems as opportunities to learn continuously and remain up-to-date Can plan and implement, assess problems, read blueprints and diagrams, understand technical documentation, estimate and predict, assess systems visually Completes in a timely manner and does it right the first time; Uses computer project management software Can evaluate, organize maintain, interpret, document relevant information, and feedback results to classroom Can assemble temporary teams and gather information to fill resource gaps in project management
Technical Expertise and Service Delivery	Having and applying knowledge of the Telecommunications Industry, especially up-to-date core technologies, products and services, in order to deliver these to customers in a timely and expert fashion.	Vocabulary, Roles & Concepts for Debriefing Technical Service Skills Is an independent life-long learner; speaks, listens and masters basic academic skills Assumes responsibility for remaining current in telecommunications technologies Networks with people and information to resolve problems; works on teams, teaches others, meets expectations, leads, negotiates and works well with diverse groups (SCANS) Uses computers and electronic tools with ease Acquires and evaluates data, organizes and maintains files, interprets and communicates information (SCANS) Selects equipment and tools, applies technology to specific tasks, and maintains & troubleshoots equipment (SCANS) Understands major concepts and relationships among fields of technical knowledge and applies knowledge to effective solutions Knows how to allocate time money, materials space and team (SCANS) Converses with peers and faculty with confidence and appropriate vocabulary Assesses problems, facilities, equipment, and resources to produce efficient and effective solutions Mentors less able team-mates to facilitate their growth and development Understands social, organizational and technological systems; can monitor and correct performance; can design and improve systems (SCANS)

Faculty Tip: Recognize that you are already teaching the competencies; even if at beginning levels of difficulty. You just aren't articulating the process and results to yourself, the students, or the program.

Don't view competencies as "add-on's" to your teaching. View student learning of competencies as "teaching differently" and as working in teams to ensure progressive difficulty over each semester. Teachers become guides and facilitators to student's discovery, as opposed to content presenters regardless of the competencies processes. Vocabulary is a tool for thinking and explains the skills development processes that lead to content learning.

Like the students, faculty need to use competencies-based vocabulary to describe skills development. Faculty serve as role models for students as students become increasingly independent. Verbal competency builds confidence and facilitates self expression that more nearly matches performance. Shared language allows students and faculty to be on the same page and to share a common culture in the context of competencies skills development.